Chapter Text
As one of his break days came, Bardon found himself still waking up early, a habit of his he couldn’t get rid of, even when he knew he had nothing to do, he was too energetic to stay in bed all morning, always in need for some movement, and what could be better than mimicking one of his favorite heroes?
“Once thought I could protect the world by myself. But I was wrong. Working together, we saved the planet. And I believe that if we stay together, as a team, we would be a force that could truly work for the ideals of peace and justice!”
Said Bardon with all the enthusiasm he got while looking into the mirror, repeating the quote of Superman from justice league, somehow, he felt his mood becoming much better just by seeing himself getting the stunt right.
And it was at that exact moment that his caller was vibrating, he blinked twice, before rushing toward it to pick it up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Bardon, it's me, David!”
“Oh If that's not David! How are you, buddy?”
“Actually…I am not really good, I kinda need your help with something, this is why I called you…”
“Oh, I see! What is it that you need help with?”
“It's a mission man, I was assigned to protect a couple of researchers from the Miramons coming to their lab, and being the newbie I am, I got stuck in here…I know it's your day off but would you please come here and help me?? I will never forget this favor!”
“Of course! You don’t even have to ask my friend! I am coming to the rescue!”
And just like that, Bardon wore his clothes and took off to where David was waiting, he found him stuck in an unfavorable situation, jumping right in the middle and catching the young man’s attention who couldn’t help but smile brightly upon seeing him.
“Bardon! I am so happy to see you, man!”
He turned to him with a radiating smile.
“And I am glad I came right on time for you!”
Suddenly, their interaction was interrupted by a couple of Miramons coming into the lab, being the experienced man he is, Bardon turned around first to let the researchers know they should take the back door and stay away until they are finished, once made sure they were out, he turned around once again, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck.
“Alright, time for action!”
And just like that, he jumped on a bunch of them, using his artificial arm and shield to strike them with one blow, fighting them the more they came in with all his might, he then turned around to David to check on him, only for the other to gave him a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.
“Worry not I got it here!”
Bardon’s concerned facial expression turned into a reassured one, he smiled confidently.
“I’ll let you handle it then!”
******
Some time passed by as they fought the monsters, clearing the lab of them and getting the researchers back safely, when they got out of there, David lets his clenched hands up in the air laughing in joy.
“Yessss! The mission is done!”
Bardon couldn’t help but laugh at such a reaction.
“Ahahaha Congrats! You will be promoted in no time!”
That's when David rubbed the back of his head smiling gratefully at Bardon.
“It was all thanks to you bud, I will never forget what you have done for me!”
“Don’t mention it, what are friends for?”
He patted his shoulder gently smiling, before waving at him, and taking his leave, thinking on his way about the next movie he should be watching home.
Should I go for mission impossible? Or the tomorrow war? I mean I have always loved Tom Cruise that guy is epic!
And just like that, his train of thought was interrupted by an old lady grabbing his attention by shouting from afar.
“Help!”
He widened his eyes upon seeing her desperate like that, rushing toward her direction.
“What is it, granny? Is someone trying to hurt you?”
“Actually…no, I am just concerned for Bobby!”
“Bobby?”
He lifted one brow in confusion, tilting his head to the side, before the lady pointed at the tree next to them, only for him to realize she was talking about her little dog who got stuck there, he scratched his cheek, before nodding to her.
“You know what? Leave it to me!”
After the little rescuing mission was over with success now that he handed her the dog, Bardon waved back to the lady before going, thinking of how wholesome was the lady’s reaction after carrying her cute little pup, and on his way, he found a little building on fire and a couple of people trying to extinguish the flames, among them was a woman crying her heart out, frowning deeply at the scene, he couldn’t help but approach her.
“Ma’am, Is there something I can do for you??”
Suddenly, she clenched his shoulders.
“Please! Help my husband and my kids get out of there!!!”
After being a little taken aback by her reaction, he then nodded instantly and affirmatively, dashing from his position to the burning house as If his life depended on it, the heat was too much for anyone to breathe properly but he endured it, covering his nose with his arm and searching every single room, until he found the whole family lying down on the floor unconscious, he lets out a gasp before rushing to them, trying to support the half-conscious father’s weight on his shoulder and to lift the kids on his back, it was was a lot for him to handle but he didn’t want to give up, and so, he managed to let everyone out, seeing how the crying woman rushed to her family.
“Don’t worry, they are still alive! They are just unconscious.”
“Thank you so much! Words aren’t enough to express my gratitude!!!”
“Please don’t mention it it's my duty!”
Bardon smile warmly at her, before taking his leave again, family was sure a precious thing, that's what he thought to himself while walking away until he found another crowd ahead of him, he blinked twice in confusion before suddenly hearing a shout, deciding to make his way through the sea of people, he found a young man standing on the edge of the bridge he crossed, it took him a moment to realize that he was trying to take his life, feeling so frightened, he approached him slowly.
“Hey please think about it! Your life is way too precious to be wasted for whatever reason!”
He couldn’t get any response from him, just someone from the crowd turning to him.
“It's futile, the guy is so determined to die.”
“But…why?”
“It is said that he lost his only brother in a car crash, and he doesn’t have anyone now with him.”
“What? no way!!!”
He felt his heart clenching after hearing his story, and a sudden determination within him to save this man no matter what, and just when he was about to open his mouth again, the young man threw himself off of the edge, making Bardon shout his lungs out among the screams of others, and without any further hesitation, he rushed to the edge, throwing himself off of it just to reach him, he was a little far from him, but Bardon used his special esper power just to reach him, and so he did it, wrapping his arms around the young man, and falling to the ground on his robotic arm to lessen the impact, after some seconds, he opened his shut eyes slowly, turning his head immediately to the boy with a troubled facial expression.
“Hey! Are you alright?”
He didn’t find any response from him, thinking that something wrong might have happened to him, he approached his face slowly to check on him, only to get a sudden punch from him that sent him away, causing his nose to bleed a little, Bardon, who didn’t get what happened, lifted his head up to meet the boy’s gaze, an angry one that was yet deprived of any hope.
“Why..”
“Huh?”
“Why did you save me, bastard!!! I was finally able to die and see my brother again!! But thanks to you I still have to submit to my miserable existence!!”
Widening his eyes, Bardon shook his head slowly as he didn’t absorb what he just heard, words failed him, it wasn’t until people came rushing to the boy, cheering happily that he was still alive and surrounding him, leaving Bardon behind who was just sitting there, looking to the ground with a confused expression, until he found a hand extended to him, one of an old man who wanted to lift him up, smiling.
“Don’t take his words seriously, you still saved a life.”
Even though he appreciated these kind words coming from a total stranger, Bardon felt something strange inside of him, one he couldn’t really decipher, still, he smiled slightly at the man, taking his hand to stand up, before looking at the boy’s direction.
“Yeah…”
At least, he is still alive...
*******
And now that the busy odd day of Bardon was over, he headed back to his apartment, still having that strange unpleasant feeling, despite saving many lives today, something that made him usually happy, but decided to just brush it aside and probably take a shower and sleep, and just when he opened the door to his apartment, he was taken aback by a couple of fireworks cracking that he let out a little yelp.
“Surpriiiiise!”
It was then that he realized it was actually his friends who prepared him for a surprise birthday party! Looking astonished, he then smiled widely.
“Guys…you remembered my birthday!!!”
“Haha of course we did!” said Mona who was holding the birthday hat before setting it on his head with a grin.
“Man you sure grew up didn’t you?”
“Makes me wonder, how old are you now?”
Wondered both David and Lucas respectively, before being interrupted by Chalmer, who somehow got dragged off of his research by them.
“Alright, guys how about we let him in first? The guy seemed to be having a hard day.”
“Ahaha yeah you can say that…and I am 26 by the way.”
“He is still as young as ever!” exclaimed David while eating a cupcake.
“It's not like there is anything wrong with growing up, we just become…more mature.”
Everyone nodded to his words, thinking of them as wise ones, while Bardon was still wondering what had gotten into him inside before his chain of thought was interrupted by Lucas.
“Alright guess what? I got you a nice movie!!”
“Really? What's that?”
“It's a western one called hell or high water! The reviews are so positive! What do you say we give it a try?”
“Hey, I think I have seen that already, isn’t it about that man who lost his-”
“Shhhh no spoilers!!!” said Lucas interrupting David with a frown, who put his hand on his mouth, making Bardon laugh at the scene before replying.
“Alright then!”
******
After stuffing their stomachs and tidying the apartment, everyone sits down on both the sofa and the rug, with a bowl of popcorn on the little table in front of them, and the movie starts.
“Alright, here we go!”
The silence filled the room, with everyone focusing on the movie, feeling already the thrill as they progressed, Bardon thought it was actually a good idea for him to distract himself, however, he realized it was actually the opposite, seeing how the two protagonists were actually close brothers who tried to survive together, protecting each other, even though it reminded him more of his situation, Bardon couldn’t help but find himself the more hooked up, it wasn’t until one of them was shot dead, that everyone was shocked.
“No way!!!” said Lucas dumbfounded.
“Poor little thing…” added David with a sad sigh
“Honestly, I saw that coming,” replied Chalmer who didn’t seem very affected despite being a little surprised.
“Still… it's so sad…” said Mona with teary eyes.
The only one who kept silent was nonother than Bardon, who despite being the loud reactive person he is, kept looking with his eyes wide open, not saying anything, until the movie was finished and one of them turned around to him.
“Hey man, you okay? You have been silent the whole movie, it's unlike you!” said Lucas lifting a brow, at first he didn’t get a reaction, making him look at everyone in concern and receiving the same look from them, who thought they might have reminded him of what happened to Hall, again, Lucas patted Bardon’s shoulder, who, after being somehow absentminded, blinked twice and became aware of his environment, looking at Lucas, smiling instantly.
“Oh it was a nice movie wasn’t it!!”
“Are you saying this out of being nice oooor…you really mean it?”
“What? Of course, I mean it! Why would I lie about it? It's my favorite genre ahaha!”
He said with a huge smile, before cracking a little laugh, making everyone sigh in relief as they thought they were overthinking it, it wasn’t until Mona suggested another movie, that everyone got along with it after making sure Bardon accepted, even when he wasn’t going to watch with them.
“Hey, why don’t you watch this on your own? I gotta take a quick shower, I feel so stinky!”
They nodded to him, before starting to watch together after Chalmer was gone to his place,
Leaving them behind and going to the bathroom, Bardon got inside the shower, thinking about what happened to him today, from the lady with the little dog and the woman’s family to the suicidal man who lost his brother, not to mention the movie he just watched with his friends, upon realizing that he was starting to feel heavy, he shook the feeling off, smiling a little to himself.
Everything is alright as long as everyone is safe and sound!
As he got out of the bathroom, Bardon found everyone asleep with the movie still on, surprised at first, he didn’t want to wake anyone up, so he brought every single sheet and pillow he had in there, making sure they were comfortable enough, before lying down on his bed, closing his eyes and trying to evoke sleep, only for him to have all the scenes of the two brothers playing in the back of his head, he then opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling for a very long time, before sleepiness took him over.
Oh, you love dogs this much? Alright, then let's take this puppy with us!
You are my one and only family, never forget that!
I don’t even know what will happen to me if I lose you, little brother!
Imagine if we were in one of these epic movies! But this time we are no longer the good guys, we are the bad ones who are trying to survive! Where we break into some kind of a bank and then run for our lives! But hey we help others with that money, just so that we don’t feel that guilty...Hall? Hall, where are you? Where did you go?
Hall no!!! Please get back here!
Oh no!! you are drowning!! I will save you!
I can’t…breath…Hall…
“Hall!!!!”
Suddenly, he woke up, letting out a loud gasp as If he was running out of breath, his heart beating as if he was running a thousand miles, he looked at the palm of his sweaty hands, only to realize it was just…a nightmare.
Letting out a long tired sigh, Bardon felt something heavy on his chest, and again, it was that strange bad feeling he kept having, but this time, it was too intense for him to ignore, he turned his head around the apartment, realizing that all of his friends left, and just like that, an idea came to mind.
What am I even thinking?
But the idea was too tempting for him to brush aside until he found himself remembering how that guy lost his brother, not getting a chance to even say goodbye, and it was at that instant that he stood up from his place, frowning in determination, and wearing his outfit, alongside a cape he kept there for missions that required a disguise. he was going to see his brother!